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  <title>Chapter 30</title>
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            <h1 class="title">Chapter 30</h1>
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          <h2 class="subtitle">Belah</h2>
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      <p class="first first-in-chapter first-full-width"><span class="first-letter first-letter-a">A</span>s many times as she reached out for him, Belah could find no sign of Nikhil’s consciousness out in the world. The twisting darkness she’d seen in his mind haunted her. During the few hours of sleep she’d gotten after her rescue, she dreamed of it, of her own mind being consumed by that vile presence the way she had once been consumed by the desire for oblivion. The darkness seeped in slowly, the way the waters of the Nile would when the summer rains began. If a villager fell asleep on the shores of the river, they might be consumed in the night by the waters and the creatures that lived within, lost forever.</p>
      <p class="subsq">She had the strongest sense that the dark presence was something foreign, but it seemed to have been there for ages, completely at home in his mind. Long ago, when she and Nikhil had been lovers, she had sensed a kind of darkness inside him, but it was no more threatening than her own cravings—a mere shadow on his soul that only served to highlight the goodness he was capable of. Especially his love for her.</p>
      <p class="subsq">When he’d plunged the blade into her chest, Nikhil’s eyes had gone entirely black, and she’d lost her view into his mind. Even though he had willingly let her in, begging her to release him from his curses, some dark and sinister <i>thing</i> had pushed her out.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak and Lukas understandably didn’t believe her when she said Nikhil had been corrupted, and likely controlled, by a more powerful force all along. Still, they seemed shaken by their encounter with him in a way that confused her, their previously unequivocal hatred of him now clouded with uncertainty.</p>
      <p class="subsq">They’d returned her to Sophia North’s apartment only a few hours ago. After a long shower, Sophia North had given her a gown to wear and Belah had quickly fallen asleep, exhausted from the wound that was taking far too long to heal. She’d been awakened soon after by her mates, with Erika and Geva in tow.</p>
      <p class="subsq">After Geva healed her wound and assured her mates that nothing was wrong with the baby, the two men remained by her side. The pair of them knew better than anyone that their baby thrived, yet kept touching her belly and singing to her navel as though it were a microphone.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Her brother arrived soon after, followed shortly by her other siblings. The small apartment was soon overwhelmed.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“You shouldn’t be worrying about me anymore,” she said to Ked and her two mates, who continued to hover protectively around her. Her brother rested in a comfortable armchair beside her bed while Iszak and Lukas perched on either side of her, holding her hands.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas shook his head, scanning her body for the hundredth time in the past hour. “I’m not convinced he didn’t damage you in some way, Belah. There was something off about him when I touched him. Why the fuck would you ask us to let him go? He still has Evie!”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“First, I told you <i>don’t</i> let him go. His mind isn’t his own right now. We need to help him. And I know he has Evie, which is why you need to leave! As long as he’s under control of that … <i>thing</i>, she is in danger. I’ll be fine. You two should take my brothers and go get her. My sisters and the Shadows are strong enough to protect me. Go ask your grandmother, if you don’t believe me.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">She shooed them out of the room, and they obeyed reluctantly. Thanks to the marks she’d bestowed upon them, their minds were now open to Belah, and she could clearly see how unwilling they were to discuss the situation with their grandmother. Sophia North was always right, but often gave them answers contrary to what they really wanted to hear.</p>
      <p class="subsq">As she watched them go, she sensed the piercing gaze of her brother and sighed, turning to him. Geva had healed her wounds well enough, but the fatigue she felt ran so much deeper. She needed several nights of rest and intimacy with her mates, but more than that, she needed to understand the nature of whatever darkness had taken hold of Nikhil’s mind.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Something has your new mates spooked, sister,” Ked said.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Something has <i>me</i> spooked. I know you don’t want to believe me, but if you could have been there, you would agree. Nikhil wasn’t in control of his mind when they found me. There was something dark, and distinctly inhuman, controlling him, and it’s been there for a very long time.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“And there was no sign of it while you were together all those days?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Nothing. You can see into my heart well enough to know it’s true. I know his mind well, Ked. It was the same as I remembered it, though filled with sadness and regret. He only ever wanted one thing, and in the end, I gave it to him, but I lost my chance to find my babies …”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah inhaled shakily, willing the heat of tears away from her eyes. Whatever had taken hold of Nikhil at the end was pure malice. She had seen him clearly over the last week before the darkness crept in at the end. Then his eyes had cleared again briefly while he held her in his arms, trying to staunch the flow of blood, and in that moment she had given him what she knew he wanted, whispering the words in his ear.</p>
      <p class="subsq"><i>“The female you are keeping with Zorion is not his mate. Her name is Asha, and she is his half-sister—your daughter. You must keep her safe from the darkness that holds you. You must fight for her.”</i></p>
      <p class="subsq">Ked wrapped his hand around hers and squeezed. “I don’t need to use my powers to know your heart, sister. It’s no surprise that he reverted to the man who once loved you after being with you again. He hadn’t seen you since the night I took you from him. My hope is that his time with you encouraged him to change.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah gently retrieved her hand and frowned at her brother. “I don’t know what I need to do to prove to you it wasn’t him all these years. He shared so many things with me—it was like we’d never parted. The man I spent the last seven days with was <i>not</i> the man who committed all those atrocities. The only thing keeping me from accepting him again was my vow to Iszak and Lukas and my love for them.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Ked’s expression darkened, causing shadows to creep closer and blot out the early morning sunlight. Belah reflexively pulled her covers higher.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“After all he’s done, you would accept him as your mate again? The man still holds my own future mate in his clutches. If I could kill him, I would not hesitate. There must be other ways to find Zorion and Asha that we haven’t exhausted yet. Evie’s safety, and the safety of all our future children, matter far more now. As long as Zorion and Asha still hibernate, at least he can’t harm them.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Frustrated by her certainty of Nikhil’s peril and her inability to convince her brother of the truth, Belah pushed her own power at Ked with all her might. His hands shot to his head and he struggled to ward her off, but she persisted, digging into his mind and filtering through his thoughts and feelings.</p>
      <p class="subsq">One by one, she chose an emotion and used her power to amplify it in his mind. His old jealousy of Nikhil came first, followed by the long-buried, but still raw, love he’d once had for a female Elite he’d been forced to kill before they’d locked themselves away. After those, she showed him his lingering hatred of himself and his doubt that he could ever provide enough tenderness for a mate as perfect as Evie North, much less any child she bore him. Belah amplified that feeling until his eyes filled with tears.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“You want that so much it kills you—to be a father again. You would do anything for that honor, even though you don’t believe you’re worthy of it. Well, I have news for you, brother: you and Nikhil have a <i>lot</i> in common. All he wanted was to have a child with me. Now that he knows Asha exists, I believe there is hope for him, but I can<i>not</i> turn my back on him. He’s the father of my daughter, and he’s sick. When I am well again, you had better believe I am going to find him and fix him—for <i>her</i> sake, if nothing else.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Ked sagged back into the chair and scrubbed his hands over his face. When he looked at Belah again, it was with renewed respect and awe. It was rare for her to dig that deeply into her brother’s mind, but she needed to shine a light on the fact that he was no different than any other man, where his deepest desires were concerned.</p>
      <p class="subsq">He let out a long sigh. “I … I worry that she’ll be disappointed, or frightened. That she’ll look at me and won’t see me as her <i>One</i>, as the turul call their mates. I’ve been alone for so long, I’m not sure I remember how to properly love someone.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“You won’t know until you go to her. Take Iszak and Lukas and bring her home, Ked.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“No,” he said, standing to his full height and towering over her bed. “You need them more now. I can handle this with Aodh and Gavra.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">She let out a soft laugh. “I’m strong, but I don’t think I can force them to stay behind. They need to be there for their sister. Just let me talk to them alone for a moment, first.”</p>
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      <p class="first first-in-section first-full-width"><span class="first-phrase">Inside Belah’s womb,</span> the brilliant, pulsing power of new life surged, letting its presence be known. Along with the child’s need for sustenance, Belah’s need grew. When Ked left the room, she rose and stripped, then pulled the covers off the bed and folded them neatly, placing them on a chest by the window. Nothing but the pillows and bare, white sheet were left. She opened the closet, searching for just the right items.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Outside the door, she heard her brother’s voice mingled with her mates and other siblings, as well as Sophia North’s melodic, maternal interjections.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak and Lukas’s cousin, Ozzie, had disappeared shortly after they’d brought her here. She didn’t blame him for avoiding her, but hoped he’d come to understand the situation once he’d had time to process it all.</p>
      <p class="subsq">After finding what she was looking for, she returned to the bed and tied several silk scarves to the headboard, and a few more to the footboard. Even though the child growing in her was no more than a speck of magic taking shape, it was already asserting itself, clamoring for magic like any baby dragon.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Except this one was more than just a dragon, wasn’t it? The child would be a glorious synthesis of all that made both dragons and turul unique. It would be beautiful, powerful—a creature made from fire and air, filled with love and hope.</p>
      <p class="subsq">And like all unborn dragons, it had very specific needs, that reflected the deepest desires of its mother.</p>
      <p class="subsq">When Belah finished her preparations and the door finally opened again, she was kneeling naked in the center of the large bed with a blue silk scarf on the mattress in front of her.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak and Lukas stepped in together, closing the door behind them.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Within the quiet confines of the room, no one spoke at first. They stood very still and both looked at her, somehow apprehensive. When she peered into their minds, she understood.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“You don’t have to say it, because I know,” she said. She lifted her hands, palms up with her wrists pressed together—the same gesture of supplication she had offered after confessing her true identity to them.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Remember when I said I had three thousand years of regrets? I meant it. This isn’t just for me today. This is for him. You may never be able to accept what Nikhil is to you, but try to understand what he has always been to me. My blood makes him a part of me, and whatever you might wish to do to him, I beg you to take it out on my flesh, because I can see in your hearts that you know this now. He and I are one, and together, we are yours forever.”</p>
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